


Date Night

by AlsyWalsy



Series: Author!Gold [3]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Rumbelle Showdown 2015, Treleaven
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-23
Updated: 2015-04-23
Packaged: 2018-03-25 09:47:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,112
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3805915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlsyWalsy/pseuds/AlsyWalsy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is my submission for the fourth round of the Rumbelle Showdown 2015. The prompts were Majestic, Cash and Should’ve kept my heart.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Date Night

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoy, this story was written under the pen name Treleaven. Thank you to everybody who voted for me!

His hands were sweating; he couldn’t remember the last time that had happened. For goodness sake, he was a grown man who had gone on dates before, why was this one so special in comparison? He knew the answer to that already. She was special. She was incredible. And she had been the one to ask him out for dinner.

Going for coffee and then going to see the movie together had been such wonderful fun, he hadn’t wanted it to end. Neither had Belle, it seemed, for she had turned to him once the credits were rolling and asked him out on a date. Apparently she lived in the city and wanted to see him again and he couldn’t have said yes any faster. His own home was somewhere upstate so he had extended his stay, quite happily. In hindsight he might have looked a little desperate. Too desperate? Oh, he was sweating again.

He had managed to get them a table at one of the fanciest restaurants around and was currently waiting for his date to appear. He had offered to pick her up but she had politely declined, saying she would meet him at the restaurant instead. Even though his caddy was back at home, he still wished he could have turned up to her place in a cab to collect her. The waiting was sheer torture.

So many questions were racing through his mind; what if she decided not to come? What if she realised he was just some old fool? What if something terrible had happened? He groaned and took a drink of water, wishing it was infinitely stronger. His hands were trembling lightly. This was pathetic. He could only imagine what the people around him were thinking, how he had been stood up or something along such lines. It had been years since he cared about the opinion of others, why start caring again now?

He had started the whole vicious cycle of doubt and panic when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Or rather, someone. Despite being dressed in his usual three piece suit, he felt incredibly under dressed when he saw her. Belle was dressed in the most beautiful dress, flattering every inch of her figure and fitting her to a T. Her hair flowed loosely around her shoulders to complete the look, a bright smile on her face when their eyes met. She was majestic in every way. He could have sworn his heart was about to beat itself into a heart attack, pounding mercilessly in his chest as she crossed to the table. He quickly got to his feet and limped around to greet her, his heart rate increasing double time when she greeted him with a soft kiss on the cheek.

“You look positively dashing.”

“I- You..” He paused and cleared his throat, earning another of those bright smiles from her gorgeous lips. “You are stunning.”

He could have sworn he saw a blush tinting her cheeks as she settled into the seat he offered. He quickly returned to his own seat, cursing himself internally, over and over again. He should have kept his heart in his chest but instead it felt as though it were on his sleeve for all to see. Including the beautiful Belle.

It took all of his strength to stop his hands shaking as they looked over the menu. Easy conversation came quickly and soothed his nerves and worries.

———-

“Did you want a bite?” The chocolate cake looked so tantalizing as she offered it to him on her fork. So tantalizing he nearly had a heart attack again. She was offering him to eat off her fork. He forgot how to breathe. She took his silence as no and ate the cake. “I mean, unless you don’t like chocolate. More for me!”

He chuckled and managed to relax. “Oh no, I like chocolate. I have quite a sweet tooth.”

“And yet you went for a cheesecake.” She gestured to his plate with her fork. His now empty plate.

“I was in the mood for cheesecake – it was delicious.”

“Well, are you in the mood for chocolate now?” She offered him another forkful and this time he took it, leaning across to take the offering.

“How much chocolate is in that?”

She laughed and dug in for another bite. “It’s a triple chocolate fudge cake, what were you expecting? Does that mean you don’t like it? Like I said, more for me.”

“Hey now, I never said that.”

She took up her plate and turned away from him, digging in her fork again. “And I never said that you could have another bite. I was simply asking if you liked it.”

Her beautiful blue eyes sparkled when she teased him and he felt his heart melt at the sight. He tried his best to ignore the way her beautiful lips closed around the fork as she ate.

“How cruel of you, to tease an old man with a taste and not let him have some more.”

“No.” She turned to face him again with a serious look on her features. “You’re not old, so stop that nonsense right now.”

She continued to surprise him by reaching out to touch his hand, resting hers on top for a few moments. He very nearly lifted his thumb to stroke her fingers but she had moved away to skewer her last chunk of cake. “Would you like the last bit?”

“I- I couldn’t possibly. It was your dessert.”

She smiled and popped the cake into her mouth. “Such a gentleman.”

With their plates cleared, their waiter was on them, replacing their dirty dishes with the bill. Gold immediately reached for his wallet but Belle snatched up the piece of paper before he could even look at it. “I- What?”

“You’ve been a gentleman and now it is my turn to be a lady. I’m paying.” She was already reaching into her bag.

“But..” His hands still hovered in mid-air.

“No buts.” She smiled. “I asked you out, after all, it is only fair that I pay. You can pay for the next time.”

He might have argued had he not been stunned into silence. So, she wanted to see him again. His heart was doing that dangerous pounding thing again. His dark eyes followed her hands as she placed some cash down with the bill. “Are you ready to go? Perhaps we could get some coffee?”

“Coffee.. Sounds good.” He smiled and stood up, cane in hand. He offered her the crook of his arm and together they left the restaurant. The night was still young.


End file.
